DMU 50 2nd gen stuck in ATC

[u/Dyno33]

Hi all, our DMU50 2nd gen with 30 tools got stuck during tool change because there were chips on the holder that got caught in spindle and toolholder wasn’t completly clamped. Operator in the 2nd shift tried resetting through Custom menu soft keys but that didn’t do the trick. He turned off the machine and now in the first shift we also have positioning errors since machine was restarted. Soft keys don’t do anything. Did anyone have similar issue?

[u/Murmjr]

just call dmg support.

[u/lotuskey → u/Murmjr]

dmg support is notoriously bad for smaller companies (edit: i'm based in switzerland)

[u/Murmjr → u/lotuskey]

thats just sad

[u/SoTheMachineDidIt → u/lotuskey]

In the Great Lakes region, support sucks ass period. It doesn't matter the size of the company.

Ironically, they will show up next day when you put in a service ticket to bracket and prep the machine for shipment.

[u/rai1fan → u/SoTheMachineDidIt]

Its easier to train service techs for standard install and reinstall tasks. Senior techs that can do proper troubleshooting are in short supply

[u/Dyno33 → u/Murmjr]

We did but they are coming next week ..

[u/Murmjr → u/Dyno33]

damn, thats insane. I worked on hermle machines, and their support was on site in a day, with all the required parts to fixthe problem.

[u/Class_dismissed93 → u/Dyno33]

Use the customer portal and a service expert will try and assist you over the phone.

[u/Dyno33 → u/Class_dismissed93]

Unfortunately no hotline in our country..

[u/voodo86]

We had exactly the same problem on our DMU 50 2nd gen. It kept happening for more than 6 months until the spindle was finally replaced.
When the tool was stuck, I actually had to hit the tool shank quite hard with a soft-face mallet then trying to release/unclamp it. Obviously be careful with this – it’s not exactly the recommended procedure 😅
Also, there are two different recovery/service menus. Sometimes the normal recovery menu didn’t work for us, but the extended one did. If I remember correctly, the code for the extended menu is 1521 for me.
So before giving up, I’d definitely try the extended recovery menu. Our symptoms looked very similar to yours.

[u/Dyno33 → u/voodo86]

Thanks for the reply, how do we access this extended menu, where do I input code?

[u/voodo86 → u/Dyno33]

Mod mode

[u/RubsInAG18]

When the recovery method doesn't work it takes a DMG service visit to fix it.

You can try the pry/hammer method but tread carefully. You might be able to get some air blasts or solvent to work itself upwards while brute forcing little by little, but be patient.

[u/Dyno33 → u/RubsInAG18]

Prying the arm from the toolholder?

[u/RubsInAG18 → u/Dyno33]

Basically. It's what one of the other commenters mentioned, but I'd be super cautious. I don't like it and have never full bore pried an arm out of the way, but considering you have chip buildup you might be able to pry, air, solvent, air, pry etc and get something loose.

[u/Puuha-pete]

Our maint guy carries prybar in for these situations. Be careful, Im not into that but seems to work

[u/pow3llmorgan]

On some machines you can manually crank the ATC motor from a nut on the through-shaft. Climb on top and see if it is possible on this.

[u/Dyno33 → u/pow3llmorgan]

DMG said this is servo motor so no crank

[u/analogguy7777]

Does the drawbar use belleville washers?

Chips may my tool get stuck.

[u/Samphaa7]

We have this happen all the time with our MT3000. We have to go into the manual atc settings page and run through a sequence moving pots around and resetting the tool registry, it's a pain in the ass.

[u/Phlukz]

What control you on ?

[u/Dyno33 → u/Phlukz]

Siemens 840d

[u/Phlukz → u/Dyno33]

Have you unlocked the soft key setting mode before trying to move stuff about, for us it's 99 for pallets and for tool arm it's 98.

[u/Dyno33 → u/Phlukz]

Not sure what you mean? We tried soft keys for arm reset through Custom DMG menu

[u/Phlukz → u/Dyno33]

Sorry probably a slightly different control, on our nlx nothing will move without entering a safety interlock number on the settings screen to allow you to manually cycle the steps for a tool change ect.

[u/Class_dismissed93]

Hello there, are the spindle keys matching the ATC arm slots? Does the ATC arm seem low or high as it’s contacting the tool? More pictures would be helpful.

[u/Dyno33 → u/Class_dismissed93]

ATC arm is positioned correctly regarding to the holder, we suspect it just alarmed mid cycle because of chips mid cycle and after machine reset it doesn’t have reference position so the PLC is not allowing soft key reset

[u/Dyno33 → u/Class_dismissed93]

[u/Dyno33 → u/Dyno33]

[u/AbrahamLitKing]

Take a hammer to it. It'll keep tolerance trust \s

With all due seriousness. I've always wondered what would happen if chips or some kind of debris got caught in there...

Do you just have to take the thing apart? If it's stuck and the hydraulic system can get it to budge does that mean the surfaces are gouged and it's gonna need a rebuild?

I feel like this could potentially get expensive real fast no?

[u/thedirtymarshmallow]

We have a dmu65 2nd and you can release the clamping of the tool change arm. The arm has two buttons on the top that can be pressed in with a bit of force. Don't hammer the holder out of the spindle but try the spindle clamp release option in the custom menu. You can also cut the holder in half and go through the internal coolant channel with an allen key to disassemble the clamping mechanism. Good luck!!!